what will be the time before capsizing after propulsion azipod failed and ship is pushed sideway into the waves, yes disaster waiting to happen , it is so impossible to understand ship with 6 generators goes dead on sea , up until now it was always in calm water , next time during storm ? i think going with 10 KV system in ship without proper maintenance and electrical engineer is very wrong

Well I reckon the best and safest place for this ship is ( if it can make it ) Gibraltar where it can be sealed/ boxed in its own harbour alongside MV Sunborn. ( see my article last April " To sail No More " ) and compete for the £12.50 a throw small bowls of soup the visitors to Gib seem to enjoy so much on the ship. Advantages? Saving lives/ minimum dredging required ( flat bottomed ) no more embarrassing top secret failures, no more clutch plate overheads, plug all the surplus MW fed into Gibs Generator system and sell them the excess, big reductions in insurance all round, more waiters and no ship management, only hotel wise. Plus more people could learn to play happy families etc as now apparently it's a big gambling area now on Sunborn. Flog off the lifeboats/ life rafts Epirbs / flares SSB sets etc and then flog off all your shares in ABB. Ref BP's write up and Rolls Royce they headed the going wrong Anzipods claims big time and each time settled out of court with a no talking clause attached so we all never really knew what the " minor " faults were. But now ABB got to be catching them up big time ref claims wise. To cancel several trips/ dry dock/ongoing full wages/ loss of reputation must be tens and tens of millions pounds for those Tupperware Dishes.However , all is not lost, just image Six thousand plus bowls of soup in one hit served in Gibraltar on board. Got to be a winner. No problem with well done steaks either with all that buckshee MW going. Plus there could be more corks for wine bottles instead of for clutch inserts (as it used to be in the old days.) Can't find out on line what the inserts are made of no matter how I try. Top secret technology here. Or maybe ABB got the f= NF.n calculation wrong? You know, you remember it well. To conclude I am trying to work out the angle of max heel attained in a blow here but have to confess that my old slide rule doesn't seem long enough, but on reflection maybe it's because it's in pounds, shillings and pence or to you MM folk feet and inches. Bit like Calculus, input factors viz: f=NF.n ( re the clutches ) a force tenner gusting eleven,very low millibars, flat bottom, shallow seas, lazy team hand cranking the slew ringear manually ( my patent applied for here ) around down below, definitely a case of the bigger the gin the bigger the waves here jobby methinks. How far up the balcony decks would the water kiss be and what's the angle of heel max involved ? Don't say 90 degrees. On the other hand you could allways think of the person you hate most in your life and send them a mystery FOC ticket for a top deck cabin ( moments about a point calculation here ) but what came first in the chicken and the egg scenario? Did the briny do the clutches in or was it a cockup job with the clutch designer/ manufacturer? Bet the RR secret agent working for ABB knows.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

Can't as yet unravel the top secret technology ref the four electric drive motors on ABB' s XO 2300 series Anzipods , trawled loads of sites and learnt that they have switched from hydraulic to electrical motors as they obviously consider that to be a superior move? Four Three phase motors with a solid one piece machined driveshaft so no spring loaded bendix gear here. Looks like the motor casing has an extended diameter on it where the field coils and armature end, could this be a large diameter splined shaft containing 10/12 ish friction/ pressure plates running maybe in an oil bath? Or is it an electrically magnetic clutch brake arrangement? Spring brake seems to hold it off. Ringear maybe bolted on in segments perhaps, location dowled to ensure correct lineup of teeth and spare ringear sections carried? Pitch circle diameter of teeth metric or imperial? Any leadin on ringear or are teeth cut at 90 degrees? Constant mesh location seems to be in evidence? Would the ringear run ok on two motors or what is the fail safe factor? Cork/ Kevlar or Copper inserts on the friction plate ( if fitted ) Must be reversible motors in a permanent stage of engagement, wonder what BP's stripdown revealed on the RR arrangement fitted? What was the clutch arrangement on the RR one BP? Have'nt had the privilege of stripping any of the OX series as yet as it seems they are too new and just cannot locate any exploded parts views or workshop manuals on line. Maybe nothing has yet been released and the concept of anyone who talks in their sleep need not apply to go on a course. Anyone?

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

One the Rolls Royce Azi the steering motors were standard 3 phase 60 Hz 690 Volt Synchronous motors mounted horizontally and supplied with electric power through Vacon Variable Frequency Drives. The free end of the motor is fitted with the digital encoder, and the Electro magnetic brake which works just the same as the ones on a trans roto hatch cover or ER crane. There is also a separate cooling fan with its own motor to cool the steering gear motor when it is operating at low speed high torque.

The output from the motor drives the Torque limiting safety clutch through normal plastic spiders. For obvious reasons the Torque limiting clutch is fitted between the motor and the reduction gearing!! The clutch drives the reduction gear through another plastic spider. The motors are all permanently engaged with the annular gear ring round the Azipul.

The output from the clutches are all mechanically synchronised, they are all directly connected to each other through the gearing. The electric motors should all be electrically synchronised through the steering system, using feed back from the encoders, and operating through the variable frequency drives.

The clutches are factory set to slip at the limiting torque, therefore this should only be reached if there is a control failure and the steering motors are fighting against each other.

BP

It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.

Interesting installation BP, but what spares are carried on board? A slew ringear section, maybe 90 degrees interchangeable universally dowled maybe for location purposes? What about the four steering motors, they used to be mainly hydraulic I see but now mainly electrical, can you strip them onboard re the limited torque setting or do you carry an electric motor complete to change over? Still can't find an exploded view of the exact clutch arrangement anywhere and would love to know exactly what failed on Anthem of the Seas ABB pods as the US Coastguard positively stated " all four clutches burnt out " . Do you have to dry dock to change the outer seal or can you access it in any way internally? I have never stripped one of these only in my minds eye but I feel I have taken a lot of it onboard re taper bearings/ seals inflatable collars etc save for this clutch exact arrangement. Best of luck with your porpoising effect, I did some of that in the Bay of Biscay and had a flat ground on the top of my head against the bulkhead every night, hated it, lack of sleep jobby every night.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

No spares carried at all, not even a spider! Ship was working in the North Sea and back in Aberdeen every few days, mind you Rolls Royce took 3 months to supply spares once they were ordered but that is a different issue....The Clutches came Factory set for the slipping torque. They could be dismantled and adjusted, but although the clutch makers supplied enough information to set the Torque, nobody would tell us what the set point was!!! Obviously once the clutches have slipped and worn, the setting will be incorrect....I have also seen Tjenford Rotary steering gears with the hydraulic pumps driven by Electric Motors fitted with variable frequency drives, the motors only ran when the rudder was turning, they stopped as soon as the rudder feedback signal equalled the desired value signal. Very Eco Friendly.

BP

It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.

I am surprised that not even a plastic spider is carried, as we all know whatever the makers say they will let go somewhen and when you consider downtime lost etc it seems crazy not to carry at least one. I realise these are slow speed motors and that there are two on each of yours and that probably one pod can be operated with only one motor. Reading about the hundreds of millions of US dollars Rolls Royce has had to pay out concerning bad failures, their very low share prices and the lack of service you have received it makes you wonder in which direction they are now heading. Wonder who the steering gear motor is made by? For me I wait with baited breath for the next prodded propulsion failure, be it ABB or Rolls Royce.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

When I first joined, the ship was only 21/2 years old and the policy was not to order any spares until the something broke down. Although she is a DP2 ship, management argued that the loss of one steering gear didn't effect that as there was a "redundant" Azipod complete therefore the ship could operate as normal with a steering motor failure for months without informing the charterers or the rigs we were working, so no "off hire costs".After 3 years on board I have been ordering spares on the basis of "one to fit and one for stock" when critical equipment breaks down, so we have a few spares now. Not my problem any more as I have been made redundant.

BP

It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.

Cut backs, cut backs and yet even more cutbacks. Money is very tight down this neck of the woods and a lot of the work available is nickel and dimes jobby. So very different all round to when I started out. Looking back on it all I reckon we had the best out of it all.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

I see yesterday that Anthem of the Seas has had another turn back to her home port losing 2/3 days off the scheduled trip owing to " maybe a bit of a blow coming up " what a fair weather ship indeed. Supposed to be a floating marvel but only upto a six perhaps. Such is modern technology, alongside as a hotel seems to be the only way to complete your trip on board this ship.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.

Just had a look at the chart, seems her docking is just a stones throw from your location? Best cancel all tug/ rescue craft leave this weekend and maybe stand on the pier head waving a welcoming old burnt out clutch plate so they know who you are. Now is your chance to get rich, volunteer as tug /rescue crew, think of the salvage to be earnt, mega bucks all round. Worth giving up your Sunday roast for as rumour has it Trump is onboard checking out your area as if he gets in the proposed fence to stop the Americans fleeing your way cuts right across your backyard. And oh, don't forget to take the latest Llyods Open Form as you get more out of it than the old one.

Remembering The Good Old days, when Chiefs stood watches and all Torque settings were F.T.